Electric shaver cutter drive mechanism



00L 1, 1963 L. c. cARlsslMl 3,105,298

ELECTRIC SHAVER CUTTER DRIVE MECHANISM Filed Jan. ll, 1960 FIG.: if 26/0 JNVENTOR. OU/5 c. CAR/ss/M/ A TTORNE/ United States Patent O rasarae. rr, 195e, ser. No. 1,547 s crains. ici. sti-43) ri`his inventionrelates to a cutter drive mechanism for electric shavers.

According to the invention, an electric shaver embodying the inventionhas a wall portion of the shaver casing formed to detachably mount the`cutter mechanism in outwardly projecting relation for use in shaving,the cutter mechanism having an outer stationary cutter and an innermovable cutter. The inner movable cutter is engaged by an oper-ating armcarried by a cutter drive member. The cutter drive member has a bodyportion extending in substantially parallel relation to the easingportion supporting said cutter mechanism and is provided on oppositeends with exi'ole supporting legs engaged in `horizontal supportsprovided in' a supporting portion of the casing. The cutter drivesupports extend in an opposite direction from the operating arm engagedwith a movable Acutter and resilient means cooperates with the movablecutter and drive member to retain the parts in operative relation. Anelectric motor mounted in the shaver casing operates a suitable drivemember project- `ing through the wall portion oi the casing to engageand reciprocate the cutter drive lmember in the operation or" the motor.

rihe invention provides a cutter drive mechanism r.for electric Shaversin which a longitudinally extending bar or strip portion is provided onopposite ends with laterally extending flexible supporting legs engagedin drive supports carried by the shaver casing while an intermediateportion of the bar or strip portion has cutter engaging means thereonwhich extends in an opposite direction to engage the inner movablecutter of the cutting mechanism detachably mounted on' the shaver casingover the bar or strip portion. The cutter drive member provided by theinvention is adapted to provide straight linear movement of an innerreciprocating cutter for maintaining the ends of the movable cutter infull cutting engagement with the stationary cutter throughout allportions of its reciprocating movement.

The invention provides a drive mechanism for electric shavers adapted tomore efficiently drive the cutter mechanism so that likelihood ofdisengagement of portions of the movable cutter from the stationarycutter during high speed movement are substantially eliminated. Theinvention provides means `for producing this result in the form of `acutter drive member having a longitudinally extending bar portionsupported at opposite ends on the shaver casing for reciprocatingmovement in a substantially straight line or plane parallel with theplane -of movement of the movable cutter means of the cutting mechanismmounted on the shaver casing. The cutter drive member has an armextending laterally from the bar portion to engage a portion of themovable cutter assembly while resilient means may be retained undercompression between the movable cutter and cutter drive member to retainthe movable cutter in operating engagement with the stationary cuttermeans carried by the shaver throughout high speed reciprocation of thecutter drive member Vand inner cutter by a suitable motor carried by theshaver casino.

rihe invention provides a shaver in which the casing has a wall portion'provided with cutter supports arranged in spaced parallel relation toreceive the ends of the 'cutter mechanism on the free ends of the cuttersupports E Patented @ein l, 1963 ,and means for detachably retaining thecutter mechanism on the cutter supports. Opposite ends of the cuttersupports are connected :by closure Walls extending longitudinally on thewall portion'. The closure walls :and cutter supports proiect outwardlyfrom the Wall portion to form a compartment. The wall portion atopposite ends of the compartment is formed with horizontal supports toreceive flexible legs extending laterally from opposite ends of a plateor strip member having the outer surface supported by the legs insubstantially co-plan-ar relation with the outer edges of the closurewalls. The cutter drive member is shorter than the distance between lthecutter supports so that it is adapted for reciprocating movement Withinthe compartment between the :cutter supports. An intermediate portion othe strip or plate member forming the cutter drive member has outwardlyextending drive means or arms yformed to engage the mov- -able part or"the cutter mechanism for producing back and forth linear movement of themovable part during reciprocating movement of the cutter drive member. Asealing member is engaged on the outer face or" the plate portion of thecutter drive member and extends between the cutter supports with theside edges extending outwardly over the outer edges of the closure wallsWhere these side edges are retained in position by the side edges of thecutter ymechanism mounted on the cutter supports. This provides a sealfor eliminating the entrance of hair particles into the `compartment inwhich the cutter drive `member is mounted. The driving arms or means onthe cutter drive member extend through this seal member to engage themovable cutter mechanism. The plate portion E the cutter :drive memberhas the side edges terminating adjacent the inner faces of the closureWalls. The ends of the flexible legs on the cutter drive member arestraight to engage dat seats on the Wall portion of the shaver casingfor cooperation in supporting and insuring linear movement of the plateportion of the cutter drive member when reciprocated by an electricmotor mechanism contained in the shaver casing.

The cutter drive member may preferably be formed of suitable plastic,such as nylon. It may lbe molded in one piece with longitudinal andtransversely extending frame bars joined :at their ends to provide arigid frame structure. The edges of the Ybars on one side of the frameare integral with a dat plate portion extending throughout the area ofthe frame to provide a rigid rectangular cutter drive strip or plateportion having integral iiexible legs extending laterally in onedirect-ion away from said plate portion and power driving arms extendingfrom 'an intermediate port-ion of the plate portion in an oppositedirection from the legs.

in the drawing:

FIG. l is a vertical transverse cross-section through the portion of theshaver having a Wall portion formed to support a cutter drive member andcutting mechanism illustrating details of construction of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical transverse cross-section taken on line 2-2 of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic View similar to FIG. 1 illustrating the cutterdrive `member and .movable cutter in full lines at one end of -its pathof movement and in dotted lines at the opposite end of its path otmovement during operation by the shaver motor.

FIG. 4 is a vertical transverse cross-section taken on lineV 4-4 ofFIG.V l.

FiG. 5 is a plan View showing the construction of a wall portion of theshaver to provide the housing for the cutter drive member with thecutter drive supports and cutter supports, to illustrate details ofconstruction of the shaver casing.

FIG. 6 shows a cutter drive member in perspective 3 looking downwardlytoward the member from beyond one end and one side.

FiG. 7 is a bottom plan view of a cutter drive member.

A shaver casing l is lformed or" two or more ysections to provide amotor compartment housing an electric motor 2 Jhich may be of anyconventional form now used for driving `the cutter mechanism of anelectric shaver. Shaver casing i has a wall portion 3 forming one sidethereof. W all portion 3 is preferably of rectangular form to extendbetween other sides of the casing and is formed of sufficient length tosupport the cutter mechanism and associated parts. Wall portion 3 hasopposite ends formed to'slidably mount latches l for vdetachablymounting casing section 5 forming a hair poel-:et in outwardly extendingrelation from wall portion 3, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.. Nithin thearca dened by casing section or hair pocket 5, wall portion 3 is formedwith a pair of spaced parallel outwardly extending cutter supports 6.rthese cutter supports extend transversely of wall portion 3, as clearlyshown in FG. 6, and have lat outer end surfaces on which the endportions of supporting plate 'i carrying cutter heads d of conventionalform are engaged, as shown in FG. l. Supporting plates '7 and cutterheads S are constructed in the manner disclosed in U.S. Patent No.2,793,436, patented May 28, 1957.

The cutter heads include an outer stationary cutter secured .tosupporting plate 7 and an inner movable cutter indicated at 9. A leafspring 1d has opposite ends engaved with opposite ends of inner cutter 9and the central portion is yformed with centering and driving portionsindicated at il. The shaver head assembly mounted on plate 7, as Ishownin the above-mentioned patent, is retained on cutter support 6 by a pairof clips l2. Spring clips l2 are attached to cutter supports 6 by havingopposite ends formed with latch extensions engaging about the side edgesof cutter supports 6 as shown in FIG. 5. The upwardly extending arms onspring clips 12 extend over the ends of plate 7 as shown in FIG. l anddetachably secure the cutter assembly with the cutter heads on cuttersupports 6. Closure walls i3 formed on Wall portion 3 extend outwardlyin parallel relation to connect opposite sides of cutter supports 6 asshown in FlGS. 2 and 5. These walls cooperate with cutter supports 6 toform a rectangular housing on the outer face of wall portion 3 belowcutter supporting plate 7 in which the outer edges of closure walls i3terminate in spaced relation as sho-wn in FlG. 2, below the side edgesof cutter supporting plates 7 for a purpose that will be hereinafterdescribed.

Wall portion 3 has spaced portions along the inside Wall of cuttersupport 6 formed to provide cutter drive supports 14. Cutter drivesupports '14 are iformed by recesses extending inwardly from the outerface of wall portion 3 in transversely extending relation, as clearlyshown in FIG. 5. Wall portion 3 is yformed at the bottom of theserecesses with a flat transverse wall portion le' which extendstransversely between the inner 'faces of closure walls i3 at the bottomof the recess and are substantially narrow in width, as clearlyindicated by the illustration in FlGS. l, 3 and 5. The recess formingcutter supports lll and wall portion 3 are inclined outwardly Ifromila-t transverse wall portion l5, as clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.Outwaridly extending guide ribs i6 are formed in pairs in the centerportion and at opposite ends in each of the recesses forming cutterdrive supports 1.4 so as to project inwardly from the outwardly flaredwall `for `a purpose that will be hereinafter described.

A feature of the present invention is the cutter drive member 17 whichhas a body portion formed by a plurality of longitudinal bars l andtransverse bars 19 secured together at their ends to one lanother toform -a rigid rectangular iframe. The outer sides ofV these bars areattached to a ilat strip or plate portion Ztl. At opposite A ends,cutter drive member 17 has supporting legs 2l o fixed lengh formedthereon, as `shown in the several iigures particularly FlGS. 6 and 7.Legs 2l extend laterally in substantially perpendicular relation fromend bars i9 of 4the body Imember or plate portion 2d and have theextremities formed 'with straight flat edges arranged in spaced parallelrelation to plate portion 29. The extremities or edges of supportinglegs 2l are engaged with flat transverse wall portions l5 ot' cutterdrive supports 14 and contact these Wall portions l5 throughoutsubstantially the entire transverse length and width thereof. Legs 2lvare thin inextensible flexible members that will bend relative to plateportion 2li or the body of the cutter drive member, but which willrigidly support the cutter drive member on wall portion 3 in the chamberformed by closure Walls 13 and cu-tter supports 6, as shown in FilGS. lto 4. This cutter drive member may be -ormed oi any suitable material,it having been found that nylon provides a suitable form of plasticmaterial from which the cutter drive member may be molded in one piece.

rEhe outer face of plate portion 2i) of cutter drive member i7 issupported in substantially coplanar relation with the outer edges ofclosure walls i3, as shown in FlG. 4. rl`he frame member for bodyportion of cutter drive member i7 has a length that is substantiallyequal to the distance between dat transverse wml portions l5 of cutterdrive supports la so that a space is left between opposite ends of thecutter drive member and the irner faces of cutter supports 6 las shownin FG. l, when the utter drive member is in its normal position of rest.The central portion oa cutter drive member 'i7 is formed with atransversely extending portion 'of enlarged cross-section indicated at2?. integral with la pair of spaced transverse bars 179, as shown inFIGS. 3 and 7. A transverse slot 23 is formed in portion 22 to providetransversely extending walls for eng-aging with the surface of aneccentricV pin 2.4i on the end of motor drive shaft 25 carried byelectric motor 2. Drive shaft Z5 projects through `an aperture in wallportion 3 Ifrom motor Z for positioning eccentric pin 2f.- to engage intransverse slot 23- so that in the rotation of shaft 25, eccentric pin24 will engage the walls of cutter drive member i7 within thetriansverse slot and reciprocate the frame and plate portion forming thebody member of cutter drive member Si longitudinally back and `forth onlegs 21.

The outer face of transverse portion 22 of the body portion of cutterdrive member 17 is formed with an outwardly extending dri 7e arm Z6,said drive arm also referred to as a cutter 'actuating member, for eachinner movable cutter located in a transverse position on the cutterdrive member to extend laterally outward from the frame or body portionin a direction opposite to supporting legs 21 so that the outer free endwill operate the inner movable cutter 9 in each of the cutter heads S.For this purpose, the outer end of each outwardly extending drive arm 26is formed with ia rounded terminal portion 27 for engaging in thedriving portion of leaf spring lill, as shown in FIGS. l and 3. Drivearms 26 having length suilicient to place leaf springs l@ undersutlicient tension so that inner movable cutters 9, as well as cutterdrive member 17, are spring pressed into operative position for normaloperation 'of the shaver.

When the shaver motor is operated, eccentric pin Zd drives cutter drivemember 17 in a linear direction back and forth through ilexing`supporting legs 21 throughout their length between the tree ends andthe body member of the cutter drive member, as shown in FIG. 3. FlG. 3shows the cutter drive member with legs 21 llexed to the left in `fulllines at one limit of movement `of the reciprocating movement of thecutter drive member, while the position of legs 21 in the cutter drivemember tare sho-Wn in dotted lines iat the opposite limit ofreciprocating movement of the body portion of the cutter drive member.Legs 21 prevent the ends of the body portion `of the cutter drive memberfrom moving downwardly toward wall portion 3 so as to obtain asubstantially linear reciprocating movement of the tbody portion of thecutter drive member and drive arms 26. ln this way, the linearreciprocating movement of the cutter drive member causes arms 26 toreciprocate .in-ner movable cutters 9 in the shaver heads back and forthin such a way that any tendency to cause arcuate movement of innercutters 9 as heretofore experienced in operating inner movable cuttersof shaver heads is eliminated. Leaf spring 1u cooperates with the cutterdrive member -in obtaining linear movement of inner cutter 9 so that thecutter teeth tthereon throughout the length of each inner cutter aremaintained in full cutting contact with the cutting teeth on thestationary outer cutter. in this way the cutting efficiency of theshaver is increased. In the reciprocating operation of cutter drivemember 17, guide ribs i6 cooperate with legs 2i Vto 'aid flexing of thelegs intermediate the ends thereof by cooperating with the lower endsorf legs 2l to cause flexing inwardly from the ends of the legs engagedwith llat transverse Wall portions 15.

With the outer surface of plate portion 20 of the cutter drive memberlying substantially in the same horizontal plane yas the outer edges ofclosure Walls 13, a sealing strip 28 formed of sponge rubber or othersuitable material may lbe engaged on the outer surface of the plateportion of the cutter drive member which extends between the inner facesof closure walls 13. The sealing strip is supported by the cutter drivemember and has the outer edges extending over the edges or margins ofclosure Walls 13 while opposite ends of said sealing strip 2S areengaged with the inner edges of cutter supports 6, as clearly shown inFIGS. l and 3. Sealing strip 23 has a thickness surfticient to lill thegap between the outer side edges of supporting plate 7 vfor the cutterheads and the outer edges of closure Walls 13. This eiectively seals thecompartment -or chamber formed by cutter supports 6 and `closure walls13 to prevent the entrance of hair cuttings into the compartment. 'il hecentral portion of sealing strip 2S is lformed with apertures to litover outwardly extending drive arms 26, `shown in FiGS. 1 to 3.

Wall portion 3 of the casing is preferably molded to form the cuttersupports 6, closure walls 13 and cutter drive supports i4 together withthe guide portions vfor latches 4.

The cutter drive member may he conveniently positioned in thecompartment formed by cutter supports 6 and closure walls i3 on wallportion 3 when casing section 5 and cutter heads 3 are in detachedrelation from wall portion 3. The drive member is positioned inoperative position with the end-s of the legs engaged with transversewall portions l5. The sealing strip may then be placed over drive armsZ6 to close the outer end of the compartment formed by the closure wallsand cutter supports. Then, the cutter assembly with cutter heads 8 maybe positioned on the outer ends of the cutter supports and the ends ofsupporting plate 7 locked into position by spring clips 12. ln applyingthe cutter assembly to the cutter supports, drive arms 26 are engagedthrough apertures in plate 7 into the driving portions 11 of leafsprings 153 for compressing leaf springs and retaining them in operativeposition for reciprocating the inner cutters. After the cutter heads areassembled on cutter supports 6, casing section 5 may be assembled intoposition about the cutter heads and the drive supports and secured bylatches 4, as illustrated in FiGS. 1 and 2. In this Way the entirecutter mechanism is enclosed by casing section S and the shaver is readyfor use.

The cutter drive member provided by this invention eliminates pivots andreduces other types of drive connections between a shaver motor andmovable cutter to a minimum for eliminating clearances and lost motionbetween parts as well as reducing noise in operation:

The invention claimed is:

l. A shaver comprising a casing having a wall portion,

a pair of spaced substantially parallel cutter supports extendingoutwardly from said wall portion, cutting means having `opposite endssupported on the ends of said supports, said cutting means being spacedfrom said wall portion between said supports, means for detachablyretaining said cutting means on said supports, spaced cutter drivesupports formed on said wall portion between said cutter supports, acutter drive member having a main body portion disposed substantiallyparallel to Ithe cutting means and having laterally extending ilexiblelegs on opposite ends of the main body portion with the free ends ofsaid ilexible legs engaged with said cutter drive supports for mountingsaid cutter drive member between said cutter supports in parallelrelation to said wall portion, a cutter actuating arm on the main bodyportion having a free end interengaged with said cutting means foroperating said cutting means during movement of said cutter drivemember, and drive means in said casing having an operatingy memberextending through said wall for engaging and operating Isaid cut-terdrive member to produce cutting operation of said cutting means.

2. A shaver as claimed in claim l, wherein said spaced cutter drivesupports on said wall portion each have a ilat transverse wall engagedby the extremity of one of said legs, and outwardly extending guide ribscooperating with the free ends of said legs to support the said mainbody portion of said cutter drive member for longitudinal endwisemovement in operating said cutting means.

3. A shaver as claimed in claim 2, wherein said cutter drive member isformed o a iiat rectangular strip having ilexible legs at oppositeextremities extending laterally in the same direction havingsubstantially the same width as the strip and having extremities withstraight edges parallel to the strip for engagement with the ilat tran"-verse walls on the casing to support said strip in spaced substantiallyparallel relation to -said wall portion or longitudinal reciprocation ofsaid strip with flexing oi said legs, and said flat transverse wallssubstantially eliminating movement of said strip in a directiontranverse to said longitudinal reciprocation.

4. A shaver as claimed in claim 3, wherein said wall portion is formedwith spaced outwardly extending closure walls extending between thecutter supports and forming a compartment between said cutter supportshousing said cutter drive member, said closure walls terminating insubstantially coplanar relation with the outer face of the strip portionof said cutter drive member for retaining said cutter drive member inoperative position on said casing.

5. A shaver as `claimed in claim 4, wherein said closure walls have theouter edges terminating adiacent the outer edges of said cutting means,and a ilexible seal Strip mounted on the outer side of said stripportion of the cutter drive member has side margins engaged between theouter edges of said closure walls and the outer edges of said cuttingmeans and has the ends engaged with said cutter supports for sealingsaid compartment against the passage of hair clippings from said cuttingmeans into said compartment While the intermediate portions of said sealstrip are supported on the outer surface of said strip portion.

6. A cutter drive member for shaver cutting means comprising arectangular frame formed of longitudinal and transverse bars joined toone another, llexibie inextensible leg members of a xed length attachedat one end to the transverse bars at opposite ends of said frame andextending laterally from said frame in the same direction insubstantially parallel relation, said legs being of substantially equallength and having straight ex i? 'oars and extending away from saidframe in a direction opposite to said legs with the free end of said armhaving connection With said cutting means for operating said cuttingmeans in vibration of said frame member.

7. A cutter drive member for shaver cutting means comprising arectangular frame formed of a plurali-ty of spaced parallel longitudinaland transverse bars joined together at their ends, a rectangular stripportion covering said frame and attached to one side of said bars, thinilexible sheet material strip forming legs of a iixed length having oneend of each attached to the end transverse bars of said frame andextending in spaced substantially parallel relation laterally from saidframe, said legs being formed on the free ends with straight edges toengage and support said drive member in spaced relation to a support forreciprocation o said frame with flexing of said leg and a cutteroperating arm having one end mounted on said frame and the other endextending outwardly therefrom in a direction opposite to said legs forengaging and reciprocating portions of said cutting means in thereciprocation of said frame on said legs.

8. An electric shaver comprising a shaver Vcasing having a Wall formedwith portions for receiving and detachably mounting cutter means, saidWall having spaced substantially llat transverse wall portions, a cutterdrive member formed of a ilat horizontal rectangular plate portionhaving exible legs on opposite ends of the plate portion formed of atstrips and each of said legs extending downwardly in the same directionwith the outer side edges terminating in substantially coincidentrelation with the sideso said plate portion and having the extremitiesof said legs formed with straight edges parallel to said plate portionfor engagement with said wall portions and support of said plate portionfor reciprocation in a plane substantially parallel to said wallportion, cutter actuating means having an extending member on said plateportion extending in a direction opposite to said legs to engage andoperate said cutter means in movement thereof, and motor drive means insaid casing having a movable drive member engaging said cutter drivemember for reciprocating said plate portion on said legs and operatingsaid cutter means through said extending member.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNirEDsrArns PATENTS 2,530,759Collins et al. Nov. 21, 1950 2,601,720 Carissimi lilly 1, 1952 2,719,356Ritter Oct. 4, 1955 2,802,261 leyek Aug. 13, 1957 2,822,610 KleinmanFeb. 1l, 1958 2,841,867 Padgett July 8, 1958 2,917,824 lrauss Dec. 22,1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 131,603 Australia lan. 17, 1949 628,599 GreatBritain Sept` l, 1949 759,485 Great Britain Gct. 17, 1956 1,174,958France Nov. 10, 1958

1. A SHAVER COMPRISING A CASING HAVING A WALL PORTION, A PAIR OF SPACEDSUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL CUTTER SUPPORTS EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAIDWALL PORTIONS, CUTTING MEANS HAVING OPPOSITE ENDS SUPPORTED ON THE ENDSOF SAID SUPPORTS, SAID CUTTING MEANS BEING SPACED FROM SAID WALL PORTIONBETWEEN SAID SUPPORTS, MEANS FOR DETACHABLY RETAINING SAID CUTTING MEANSON SAID SUPPORTS, SPACED CUTTER DRIVE SUPPORTS FORMED ON SAID WALLPORTION BETWEEN SAID CUTTER SUPPORTS, A CUTTER DRIVE MEMBER HAVING AMAIN BODY PORTION DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE CUTTING MEANSAND HAVING LATERALLY EXTENDING FLEXIBLE LEGS ON OPPOSITE ENDS OF THEMAIN BODY PORTION WITH THE FREE ENDS OF SAID FLEXIBLE LEGS ENGAGED WITHSAID CUTTER DRIVE SUPPORTS FOR MOUNTING SAID CUTTER DRIVE MEMBER BETWEENSAID CUTTER SUPPORTS IN PARALLEL RELATION TO SAID WALL PORTION, A CUTTERACTUATING ARM ON THE MAIN BODY PORTION HAVING A FREE END INTERENGAGEDWITH SAID CUTTING MEANS FOR OPERATING SAID CUTTING MEANS DURING MOVEMENTOF SAID CUTTER DRIVE MEMBER, AND DRIVE MEANS IN SAID CASING HAVING ANOPERATING MEMBER EXTENDING THROUGH SAID WALL FOR ENGAGING AND OPERATINGSAID CUTTER DRIVE MEMBER TO PRODUCE CUTTING OPERATION OF SAID CUTTINGMEANS.